1. What drew you to comics originally?
A lot of credit has to go to my late father, who was a journalist and author. He was really into pop culture and media — and that included comics. He was born in 1941, and had a large collection of comics from the 40s, 50s and early 60s by the time I came along. As a result, I got exposed to the medium pretty early.
He also owned a copy of Jules Feiffer’s “The Great Comic Book Heroes” which was filled with classic Golden Age stories. By the time I was four or five years old, I was already reading that book! To this day, I’m still a huge fan of comics’ Golden Age.
I myself started buying comics off the stands around that same time with my “allowance”. Starting in the summer of 1971, I began buying Marvels regularly and some Disney stuff. I was drawn by the graphics and colors and art — which no doubt impacted me and my career choices as an illustrator, comic artist and graphic designer.
2. What do comics allow you to do as a creator?
Comics combines art and writing to tell a story. I really love the art form and the process. I’m a journalism major, with a minor in art, so I’ve always loved both art and writing. Few mediums combine those two elements better than comics. As Will Eisner used to say — there are things the comics medium can accomplish that are unique and cannot be duplicated in other mediums. The next closest art form I can think of which accomplishes this is probably storyboarding for film — which I’ve done on a couple of occasions for small projects.
3. Are there any particular creators/titles who inspire you?
My first favorite artist was John Romita Sr., and his art —and especially his inks — made an impression on me immediately. He was without a doubt my idol growing up — and well….he still is! Next up would be the Buscemas — John and Sal — who affected me in so many ways, I wasn’t even conscious of it most of the time — but that’s true impact. Joe Sinnott was another — his inks were the standard as far as I was concerned. And having met him, I can say he was a great guy who was instrumental in instilling in me some confidence as I was developing. And of course, Ron Frenz, whom I currently work with at Sitcomics. Ron has proven over the years in a consistent fashion that traditional storytelling never fails and can always be fresh and new — and that is super encouraging to me. I’ve always admired his style and approach, so it’s great to be working with him.
Of course, the big three — Jack Kirby, Carl Barks and Will Eisner were important influences. And I must mention the comic strip great Milton Caniff — his ink work and storytelling are some of the best of all time.
I’m a big fan of the old Brandywine illustrators too…Howard Pyle’s work is truly awesome to behold.
Artwork from https://chrisnyeart.com/
4. Please tell us about Runemaster and any other work you'd like to share about.
Runemaster by Mike Bullock was one of several pulp novels I’ve illustrated for Ron Fortier’s Airship 27 group. Ron and Art Director Rob Davis run a first-class operation and I love doing work for them. My most recent work for them was illustrating Dragonthroat by Teel James Glenn. They allow you the freedom to express yourself and stretch your wings a bit — and their printed products are gorgeous. It’s a lot of fun. I’m about to start work on another one for them very soon.
Another great co-creator I stay in touch with is author Mark Ellis. I had the opportunity to complete the art for the Lakota graphic novel (which you can find on Amazon) which he wrote and comics great Jim Mooney had partially illustrated. Mark is a great talent and author of several outstanding graphic novels such as Nosferatu: Plague of Terror, Star Rangers and Ninja Elite and has worked with the best in the business. Plus he’s written many spectacular science fiction novels, such as the Outlanders series. We mull over ideas occasionally for future projects.
Finally, as mentioned previously, I’m currently doing work for Sitcomics Binge Books — a terrific publisher in California headed by television writer Darin Henry. I love what Darin is doing —which is bringing back the fun and traditional approach to comics. I think I fit in well with that goal and really enjoy it. They’ve brought many comics vets on board such as Ron Frenz, David Michelinie, Roger Stern, Al Milgrom, Tom Richmond and others. It's just fantastic to have the opportunity to contribute to such a top-notch professional product.
Heroes Union is the Sitcomics title I’m currently working on. Ron penciled the first issue, which was written by Roger Stern. I inked that book along with Sal Buscema. Currently I’m both penciling and inking issue 2, with Ron on the layouts and David providing the fun script. All of these are colored by Glenn Whitmore, who is just terrific.
Sitcomics is really all about fun, and that’s the best part of what they’re doing.
So it sometimes seems I’m drawing all the time….but hey…that’s what I do!
5. Where can we find more information about your work?
You can always check out my website, which I update periodically at: https://chrisnyeart.com/
Probably the most up to date info and postings of my work is on my public Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/chris.nye.9809/
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